Chaos and Creation

[Riklaa]

Chaos and Creation Sun 7 Jun 2009, 21:40, BBC Radio 3 (Duration: 45 minutes) 192/44; 61 MB; sound quality excellent A reflection on the mythology, the science and the religious and political significance of the origins of the universe. With contributions by cosmologist Kathy Romer, particle physicist Mark Hindmarsh, classicist Teresa Morgan, mythologist Sian Hawthorne, politician Phil Willis and evangelical physicist Karl Giberson, all set within an analysis by Sharon Choa of Haydn's depiction of The Creation. Chaos And Creation examines why mankind feels compelled to find explanations for the origins of "life, the universe and everything", whether through myth, reason or faith. "In the beginning God created the Heaven, and the Earth; and the Earth was without form and void ..." The Biblical account of the creation of the universe, like so many creation myths, overlooks the pre-existence of a creator. In Egyptian mythology, God has union with his own hand, "embracing his shadow as a wife", and brings about life; for Maori people, the Sky Father and the Earth Mother are forced apart by their children living in darkness between them; in Norse mythology the chasm between fire and ice is joined, creating a giant and a cow; and in Africa, Earth was nothing but water and darkness ruled by a white giant who feels a pain in the stomach and vomits up the sun, the moon and the stars. The mythology, science, religion and politics of the origins of the universe are considered by cosmologists Mark Hindmarsh and Kathy Romer; the classicist and Christian minister Teresa Morgan; the politician Phil Willis; the mythologist Sian Hawthorne; and an evangelical physicist, Karl Giberson. Their reflections upon the value of seeking an explanation for creation - and their challenging of whose purposes it serves - are set within an analysis by Sharon Choa of Joseph Haydn's musical depiction of chaos and creation in Die schšpfung - The Creation. Producer: Alan Hall

feature 090607-r3 Chaos and Creation.mp3

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